By Campbell Spence
I have been reflecting on the unsavoury campaigning of our political opponents in the Council elections and have concluded that we must have been effective over the last four years to cause such rancour.
Why would our opponents target our community association and Residents of Port Phillip endorsed candidates with their unsubtle and grubby politics? We are clearly a threat to the ambitions of aspiring politicians and vested interests, all with their noses in the ratepayer's money trough.
One such group, Progressive Port Phillip (PPP) has spent a large amount of money campaigning to elect members of the Greens and Labor parties and several candidates with links to these political parties and/or activist groups, like Extinction Rebellion.
This group has advocated to vote for Labor, Greens or aligned activists and to put RoPP candidates last on ballot papers. Also it appears that the self-titled 'progressives' and their affiliates have coordinated to spread their candidates across wards. Why else would several candidates run for wards in which they do not live?
One candidate has been a long-term member of the PPP, and supports rates rises and wasteful spending through voluntarily duplication of State and Federal government services.
How can this candidate claim to be independent, when PPP has campaigned to elect Labor and Greens Party candidates in this council election as well as in the 2020 elections?
We may never know how much money this group has spent on their campaign to help elect their politically aligned associates even though candidates are required under the local government act to report donation and in-kind support.
Has this group found a workaround to the rules? If a candidate doesn't ask for the support of PPP or the link cannot be proven, then they may not be required to disclose PPP's in-kind support?
All candidates must disclose donations or in-kind support over $500 within 40 days after election day. This includes candidates who were not elected and/or did not receive any campaign donations or gifts.
In the 2020 elections candidates who received in-kind support from PPP did not disclose the amounts received. It would seem unlikely that the amount will be disclosed in the 2024 candidate returns.
Is this group intentionally pulling the wool over voters eyes while raising questions about the integrity of the Residents of Port Phillip; a clever redirection?
Our candidates will accurately disclose the amount of donation and in-kind support they received from our community organisation as we did in 2020. We have nothing to hide.
